Baseball

2017-18 Penn State DuBois Baseball News

Penn State DuBois defeats The Apprentice School 10-2 in Final Championship game to claim USCAA Title. The baseball program in it's 3rd year of existence rises to the occasion in front of a home crowd at Showers Field.

GAME ONE: PSD vs Garrett College
Penn State would draw a rematch in it's first game on Saturday March 3rd against Garrett College. Last year at Myrtle, PSD had a lead
late on Garrett College, but Garrett would come back to defeat PSD. This year, PSD was looking to return the favor. DuBois pitcher, LJ Johnson
would get the start for the opening game, and the left hander was in control of the game from the start.
Johnson would get staked to an early 4-0 lead as PSD would load the bases and get a huge clutch hit from Senior 1B/P Dan Bowman. Bowman, who played
in the Myrtle Beach summer league last year, loves to play at the Ripken Complex. He promptly stepped into the box and ripped a gap shot into right centerfield
that cleared the bases and gave PSD an early 4-0 advantage.
LJ Johnson would go to work, retiring Garrett College in the bottom of the first, getting a slick double play from the infield combo of Caleb
Bennett and Toner Corl to retire the side.
In the top of the second, Dan Bowman once again came through in the clutch, smacking a two-run RBI single to up the PSD lead to 6-0. Garrett College
got two up on the board in the bottom half as the wind played havoc with fly balls. During the first game, there were wind gusts between 20-40 mph that both
teams had to contend with, and resulted in several PSD errors aiding Garrett on the scoreboard.
Both pitchers settled in with score 6-4 in favor of PSD, and there was no scoring until DuBois's half of the 6th. Dan Bowman continued his hot hand at the plate ripping his
second double of the game. PSD added four runs in the frame to push the lead to 10-4. In addition to Bowman's double, Senior SS/P Caleb Bennett added an RBI,
and freshman catcher, Frankie Stefko added his first college RBI to up the lead to 12-4.
LJ Johnson finished his day pitching five full innings and earned the victory on the mound. Garrett College would add a few runs late, but PSD would
get out of the 7th to earn an opening day victory of 12-7. Dan Bowman finished the day a perfect 4-4 at the plate with two doubles, two singles, and 5 RBI's for DuBois.

GAME THREE: PSD vs Chesapeake
Sunday would find PSD in a doubleheader affair with DI JUCO school, Chesapeake at the Polo Grounds in Ripken Complex. This contest would prove to be an exciting back and forth game, that ultimately saw DuBois fall short 9-8.